


Voucher

by Dreamin



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Avengers Tower, F/M, Loki faked his death, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), mentioned - Freeform, only somewhat Avengers: Endgame-compliant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-25
Updated: 2019-08-25
Packaged: 2020-09-26 04:09:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,738
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20383441
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dreamin/pseuds/Dreamin
Summary: Darcy gets bumped from a flight home and runs into the last person she'd ever expect.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [afteriwake](https://archiveofourown.org/users/afteriwake/gifts).

> Inspired by a prompt from afteriwake.
> 
> I cherry-picked my way through Endgame canon for this one. Thanos was defeated. The Time Heist happened and Steve returned the Infinity Stones, but he didn't go back to 1945. Everybody who was dusted in IW came back, but Tony and Nat are still alive. As with most of my MCU fics, the Avengers are still based in Avengers Tower because I can't let that building go. Tony and Pepper are happily married and have Morgan, Thor and Jane are back together, splitting their time between New York and Norway.

Darcy muttered a blue streak as she dragged her pilot case through the airport. She was supposed to be on her way back to New York with Jane but their flight was oversold and the airline had asked one of them to give up their seat. In a moment of self-sacrifice that surprised her even more than it did Jane, Darcy took the airline up on its offer of a hotel voucher and a flight for the next morning.

_Jane gets to spend tonight in her bed, with her boyfriend, while I get to spend yet another night in a hotel. Not that I have a boyfriend waiting for me, but still…_

The hotel was attached to the airport so while she didn’t have to worry about tracking down a shuttle, she did have to find the right terminal, which turned out to be what felt like ten miles from the one she was originally in. Once she got there, part of her realized she had never seen anything more inviting than the hotel’s crowded lobby.

_That’s a tired brain for you._ Darcy made her way through the crowd and eventually got to the front desk the same time as a man did.

“May I help you?” the woman behind the desk asked.

“I’d like a room for tonight, please?” she said, showing her the voucher. “I just got bumped.”

“Ignore her,” the man said curtly. “I require a room.” His voice sounded familiar and it only took a moment for her to place it.

“Loki?” Darcy whispered, her eyes wide. _Shit shit shit, what is he doing here? Hell, how can he be alive? I thought he was dead._

He froze then turned to her, one eyebrow raised. “Do I know you?”

She rolled her eyes, relaxing. “Hello? Darcy Lewis? Jane’s assistant? Is any of this ringing a bell?”

Loki smirked. “I do recall a little nobody in glasses trailing after her, now that you mention it.”

She self-consciously reached up to slide her glasses back up her nose. “Yeah, well, contacts aren’t for everybody.”

The front desk clerk cut in. “I’m afraid we only have one room left.”

“I’ll take it,” the two of them said in unison, then they glared at one another.

“Since you already know each other, maybe you could share it?”

Darcy eyed Loki warily. “If you promise to behave yourself, I guess we can share.”

He rolled his eyes. “I am capable of self-restraint.”

“Uh huh, nobody’s seen it yet.” She turned back to the clerk. “We’ll take it, I’m sure we can work something out.”

The clerk gave them each a room key card and Darcy headed for the elevators, not bothering to see if Loki was following her. He caught up with her as she waited for the elevator to open.

As soon as the doors closed behind them, she turned to face him. This was the first time Darcy had seen him in Earth clothes and she had to admit, he looked good in them. The blue jeans hugged his muscular legs while the black pullover hoodie hid, she assumed, several knives. _Not to mention his bod._ A dark green baseball cap for a team Darcy didn’t recognize covered his head but she could see his shiny black hair was still shoulder-length. His full attention was on the phone in his hands and she had to wonder where he’d gotten any of it.

She could admit to herself, and just herself, that he looked good. _Damn good, really._

Once they were inside the room, she whirled on him. “I thought you were dead. Thor saw you die, he held your lifeless body.” She raised an eyebrow. “Or is this the 2012 Loki I’m talking to? Where’s the Tesseract?”

He rolled his eyes. “My other self has the Tesseract, Odin only knows where they are now. I am the original, and frankly superior, Loki. My brother isn’t a stupid man but this time he saw exactly what I needed him, and Thanos, to see.”

“You faked your death, I should’ve known,” Darcy muttered. She looked around the suite’s small sitting room then dragged her pilot case into the bedroom. _“There was only one bed,”_ she thought, quoting her favorite fanfic trope. _At least this one’s a queen._

Loki came in a moment later, eyeing the bed. “There’s only one bed?”

“Obviously,” Darcy muttered. _Something tells me he’s never read fanfic._

“That won’t do.” A twin bed appeared, wedged between the first bed and the wall.

She shut her eyes and pushed her glasses up high enough so she could pinch the bridge of her nose. “Loki…”

“I’m the prince of Asgard-”

She lowered her hand to look at him, one eyebrow raised. “A planet that doesn’t exist anymore.”

“-and the rightful king of Jotunheim-”

“Oh yeah,” she muttered, “they’d welcome you with open arms, considering you tried to kill them all.”

“-I refuse to share a bed.”

“Right, so I get the twin and you get the queen? I don’t think so.” She crossed her arms in front of her chest and, as expected, Loki’s eyes were momentarily drawn to her boobs, then he met her eyes.

He smirked. “Do you really think you can stop me, little mortal?”

“Actually, yeah, I do.” She pulled out her phone then hit her second contact, smiling when he picked up after the first ring.

“Hello, Darcy,” Thor said happily. “Jane told me that you let her keep her seat on the plane. That is very generous of you, thank you.”

Darcy gave Loki a pointed look as she said, grinning, “Happy to do it, Thor.”

Loki’s pale complexion went slightly blue as his eyes widened. “Don’t tell him I’m alive,” he whispered. “I’ll do whatever you want.”

“Someone will pick you up from the airport in the morning,” Thor continued, oblivious.

“Thanks. And tell Jane that the next time this happens, she’s the one getting bumped.”

The King of Asgard chuckled. “Will do. Goodnight, Darcy.”

“Goodnight, Thor.” She ended the call then smirked at Loki. “We’re doing this my way or I blow your secret sky high, got it?” At his nod, she said, “First, get rid of the extra bed.”

The twin vanished.

“Second, you, mister, are sleeping on the couch.”

He stared at her. “I beg your pardon?”

“After all the shit you’ve pulled, you’re lucky I’m not making you sleep on the floor.”

“Very well,” he muttered.

She smirked. “Third, you’re going to tell me how you fooled Grimace and your own brother, and why you haven’t told him you’re alive yet.”

“This will require copious amounts of alcohol,” he muttered, then he looked at her. “Are you even old enough to drink in this country?”

Darcy rolled her eyes. “I’m over twenty-one, so yeah.”

Loki smirked. “Your height, or lack thereof, contradicts you.”

“Yeah, yeah, make fun of the shorty,” she muttered. “We can’t all be six-foot-two models.”

He raised an eyebrow. “You think I look like a model?”

Darcy ignored him in favor of ordering room service.


	2. Chapter 2

By the time room service arrived, Loki had taken off his hat and hoodie, revealing a black t-shirt tight enough to show off his physique, which Darcy was definitely not sneaking glances of.

At all.

The cap had left him with a case of hat hair, which she was polite enough not to point out, even if it did make her smile. _Good to know he’s not perfect all the time._

Once they were settled on the small table in the sitting room, Darcy poured herself a glass of wine then handed Loki the bottle. “The rest of this and the other bottle are for you, I never have more than one glass with dinner.”

He looked her over. “As small as you are, I’m surprised you can handle any.” He poured himself a full glass.

Darcy rolled her eyes. “Enough with the short jokes. I don’t make fun of your…” She trailed off, unable to find another physical flaw.

“Yes?” Loki asked, amused.

She stuck her tongue out at him. “You’re perfect, okay? The problem is you know it.” She took a sip of her wine then started cutting up her steak. “You’ve got your booze, now spill.”

It was Loki’s turn to roll his eyes. “Very well.” He drained his glass and immediately poured another one. “It was clear we were in over our heads when Thanos showed his ugly face.”

“So, what, you decided you were just gonna abandon your brother and everyone else?” _He’s a Frost Giant but I didn’t think he could be that cold._

He nodded, though he didn’t look proud of himself. “My brother is a survivor, I knew he’d find a way out.”

She stared at him. “And it didn’t occur to you that staying by Thor’s side was a better option? Aren’t you supposed to be smart?”

Loki sipped his wine. “I thought he’d be too busy protecting his people to think about me.”

“Bullshit,” she declared.

He sighed heavily. “Fine. I thought that if Thor believed I died, again, he’d forgive everything I’d done, again.”

“Wow. You really don’t know your brother at all.” She went back to her steak.

He stared at her. “I beg your pardon.”

“If you actually knew Thor, you’d know he’d forgive anything anyway, provided you’re genuinely sorry.”

“I fear our history is too deep for forgiveness as simple as that,” he said quietly.

“You won’t know until you ask him.” When Loki didn’t respond to that, she added, “Okay, I get the ‘why,’ sort of. Tell me the ‘how.’”

He smiled slightly, apparently glad to be on more familiar ground. “Under normal circumstances, I would have used magic to create a double, but I knew that wouldn’t fool Thanos.”

“Why not?”

“Illusions are insubstantial. Thanos was the type to put his hands on someone who displeased him.”

“Okay, but Thor said Thanos crushed your windpipe. How in the hell did you fake that?”

Loki smirked. “‘A good magician never reveals his secrets,’ is that not the saying here?”

“Uh huh.” Acting on impulse, Darcy reached over and grabbed his upper arm. His bicep was firm and definitely solid. Loki simply raised an eyebrow at her until she let go. “Okay, you’re not an illusion, or a ghost.”

He flashed her a grin. “I assure you, mortal, I’m real and very much alive.”

“Enough with the ‘mortal,’” she said, exasperated. “I have a name, use it.”

“Very well, Darcy,” he murmured.

She had to suppress a shiver at the way he said it.

“If you must know-”

“I must,” she said, grinning cheekily.

Loki rolled his eyes. “I channeled all the magical energy I had into protecting myself from Thanos’ attack while making it look like he had succeeded. I barely had enough left to get off the ship.”

“Then what? You just hid until it was all over? The Avengers could’ve used you.”

“I thought it was for the best,” he muttered, not meeting her eyes.

Her eyes widened slightly in realization. “You were worried someone would make the illusion a reality.”

“More or less,” he admitted.

“Meanwhile, everyone risked their lives to stop Grimace, and I know for a fact that Thor was doing it to avenge you. Stepping out of the fight may not make you a coward, but not telling your own brother you’re alive definitely does.”

Loki sighed quietly. “I was hoping to wait until he was … less likely to be furious with me for fooling him.”

“You really don’t get it, do you? He’s not going to be furious. If you walked into Avengers Tower right now, Thor would welcome you with open arms. I don’t know how everyone else would react, but he’d definitely vouch for you.”

He assessed her. “What about you?”

“Me?” she asked, surprised.

“Yes. Would you vouch for me?”

Darcy sighed. “Considering how many times you’ve fucked up, I probably shouldn’t, but I believe in second chances, or eighty-seventh chances, in your case. Yeah, if you man up, I’ll vouch for you.”

He bowed his head in acknowledgement. “Thank you.”

She smiled a bit. “Did that feel as weird to you as it sounded to me?”

“What?” he asked, confused.

“You saying ‘thank you.’”

He rolled his eyes. “It’s true that I don’t often express gratitude, but then I rarely have a reason to.”

“That’s … sad, really.”

“That’s the way it is for one such as me.” He drained the glass then poured another.

Darcy narrowed her eyes. “Cut the crap, Loki. You’re loved. Your brother loves you. Your mom loved you. Odin sounds like he was the worst father ever, but according to Thor, he did say he loved you and called you his son in the end, so that’s gotta count for something. If you’re not feeling loved, it’s your own damn fault for isolating yourself.”

“You understand nothing,” he said, glaring at her. “Compared to us, you’re an infant.”

“Whatever,” she muttered as she got up. “Have fun with your brooding, I’m gonna unwind.” With that, she walked into the bedroom and closed the door behind her.

* * *

After getting up in the middle of the night to pee, Darcy decided to check on the god in the sitting room. She found him sleeping in his clothes on the small, narrow couch, his long legs sticking out at one end, and he looked decidedly uncomfortable. _Well,_ she thought, _he deserves it. _She went back to bed, deciding that an uncomfortable night’s sleep was enough punishment for him for now.

The next morning, Darcy woke up on her side with a soft snore coming from behind her. Groaning quietly, she slowly turned onto her other side and saw, as she expected, Loki lying beside her, asleep.

_It’s really unfair for him to be this gorgeous first thing in the morning,_ she thought, one hand instinctively reaching out to stroke his cheek. The moment her fingers made contact with his skin, Loki’s eyes shot open and he grabbed her wrist.

“Hey,” she said gently, “it’s okay, it’s just me.”

He stared at her for a heartbeat until recognition kicked in. “Darcy. The little mortal.” He let go of her wrist, muttering, “Sorry.”

She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, that’s me. Mind telling me what you’re doing in my bed?”

“I couldn’t sleep.”

“Obviously.” That’s when she noticed that the only thing he wore was his underwear, she could see the waistband just peeking out from underneath the sheet. She fought hard to drag her eyes back up to his face and she knew, just knew, she was blushing. “And you’re nearly naked why?”

“I wanted to be comfortable.”

“Uh huh. Get out.”

He smirked. “You’re blushing.”

“Yeah, well, it’s not every day I have a hotter than hell Norse god in my bed,” she muttered.

His smirk turned to a full-fledged grin. “Is that so?”

She raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, what about it?”

“What would you say to making it a regular occurrence?” he asked, his eyes twinkling.

Darcy had to work hard to keep her jaw from dropping. “Seriously?”

“Of course. You intrigue me.”

“Yeah,” she muttered, “just like humans are fascinated by ants.”

“If my brother can find a mortal worth pursuing, why can’t I?” Loki smirked. “You should feel honored I’m singling you out.”

“Uh huh. Let’s try dating first, and only after you tell your brother you’re alive.”

He groaned quietly. “Must I?”

“Yes. I’m going back to New York today and I’m not your secret keeper.” She sat up then looked at him, one eyebrow raised. “What are you even doing in this airport, Loki?”

He sat up as well. “Wandering.” He shrugged. “I must admit that I have been searching for a purpose since Thanos attacked.”

Darcy rolled her eyes. “I swear to God, if this is the start of an ‘I was born to rule’ speech, I’m smothering you with the nearest pillow.”

Loki chuckled. “I promise, it’s not. I’m simply trying to find my place in the universe.”

She thought about that for a moment. “Well, if we can keep the Avengers from killing you as soon as they see you, what do you think about fighting for Earth instead of against it?”

He smirked. “I think that will be satisfactory, provided I have you, and my brother, at my side.”

Darcy smirked back. “We’ll see.”


End file.
